Feature Exhibitors

The Dying to Know Day flagship event for 2017 at Federation Square will feature a curated exhibit of the most innovative practitioners and service providers in end-of-life care.

Event Partners

THE GROUNDSWELL PROJECT

Dying to Know Day is an initiative of The GroundSwell Project, a not for profit organisation renowned for using innovative arts and health programs to create social and cultural change about death and dying. Renowned as pioneers of death literacy, The GroundSwell Project aims to promote resilience and wellbeing in response to end-of-life issues and to encourage people to build their death literacy. Our vision is to live in a world where every person, every family, every community knows how to care for someone who is dying of bereaved.The GroundSwell Project is about generating that change.

PREPARING THE WAY

Preparing the Way is so very proud and excited to be co-hosting this wonderful event Dying2KnowDay@FedSquare along with The Groundswell Project on August 8th. Preparing the Way is a reasonably new face on the end-of-life/palliative/death scene even though Helen Callanan, its founder, has been ‘doula’ing’ for nearly 30 years and was featured on The Project in August 2016! Helen and the team are committed to ALL people having choices and support at end of life and to that end provide End of Life Doula Training and Services across Australia. You cant make informed choices if you don’t know all your options and the Preparing the Way education is designed for someone who wants to support one person in their lives or many, as a professional End of Life Doula.

Gold Exhibitors

Calvary Health Care Bethlehem is a recognised Specialist Palliative Care Service and State-wide provider for those living with Progressive Neurological Disease. We have been proudly serving the needs of the Glen Eira and surrounding communities for the last 75 years.The work we do reflects our mission of caring for the sick and dying through ‘being for others’ with a focus on wellness and active engagement in life. We are known for our compassionate, quality care, tailored to individual needs.We are committed to working together to enable our community to live and age well with autonomy, assisted by integrated, flexible services

NATURAL GRACE HOLISTIC FUNERAL DIRECTORSNatural Grace is an independent, holistic and environmentally conscious funeral company owned and operated by a community of compassionate and experienced Australian families.With a proud range of sustainable shrouds and coffins, we offer natural burial and shrouded cremation in addition to conventional choices. We specialise in arranging funeral ceremonies and celebrations of life in spaces that are meaningful to families and utilise community resources. Looking after Melbourne and Country Victoria, we are equipped to support your decision to care for your family member at home or to care for them in our beautiful Sanctuaries.Natural Grace - Authentic, beautiful and sustainable funeral choices!

Palliative Care Victoria is an incorporated charitable organisation established in 1981. We provide leadership, support and advocacy so that all people with a life limiting illness and their families are supported to live, die and grieve well. Our strategic priorities are to: promote a strong, innovative palliative care sector that delivers high quality palliative care; raise community awareness about palliative care and community capacity to deal with life limiting illness, death, grief and loss; improve equity of access to culturally responsive palliative care services for Aboriginal people and people from diverse backgrounds; and foster growth in innovative, effective and sustainable palliative care volunteering.

What is advance care planning?Advance care planning is about conversations and planning for your future health and personal care so that you, your family, friends, carers and doctors know your values and preferences. Advance care planning is a routine part of health care.When you discuss your values openly, your health and personal care preferences can be respected at a time when you cannot voice your decisions. Advance Care Planning Australia is a national program that provides information and resources to individuals, carers, care workers, and healthcare professionals to support best practice advance care planning.

The Celebrants Training College was opened by Sally Cant in 2002, and has trained thousands of celebrants in marriages, funerals and general celebrancy. The funeral training is a very hands-on, practical course that inspires students to become independent celebrants. An independent funeral celebrant works directly with the family to organise, construct and deliver an authentic funeral, empowering the family to do as much or as little as they feel capable of. Engaging an independent funeral celebrant can eliminate constraints that may exist when working for larger funeral companies. Please contact us for further information about our courses.

Silver Exhibitors

We are Award-winning glass artists, who have been working with blown glass for more than twenty years.We have been making Memorial Glass for over eight years. We carefully and tastefully encase ashes in tactile and ornamental objects and jewellery that are designed to be touched and treasured. Our handmade cremation keepsakes are a beautiful way to remember a loved one.It is an honour and privilege to be able to offer this unique service.

The Australian Doula College (ADC) is an integrated organisation working in collaboration with Preparing the Way, providing education, support and continuity of care for Birth and End of Life Doulas and anyone needing support through any one of life’s many transitions.Through our network of qualified and experienced educators, doulas and other practitioners, we can offer a variety of services, training and information programs and support.

NDAN is an Australian network and advocacy partnership of community facilitators, professionals, activists and educators working to enrich the experience of dying and death. Our aim is to create an informative, innovative and transparent organisation advocating holistic approaches to dying and death through independent research and action. We provide individuals, families and communities with professional, creative and informed assistance to choose meaningful, humane and ecological pathways at the end of life.

Ballarat Hospice Care provides 24-hour, home-based, holistic palliative care for people facing end of life issues.The highly accredited service employs a team of specialist palliative care nurses, specialist counsellors, welfare workers, and patient and family support volunteers. We work closely with our local hospitals, primary health providers, specialists and state-wide services.The team operates throughout Ballarat and Hepburn, Golden Plains and Moorabool shires, and is also involved in several projects to enhance its care, including a telehealth trial with Hepburn Health Service and workplace grief and bereavement workshops.

Picaluna is an end of life business that offers a better way for family and friends to say goodbye to the people they love through funerals, memorials and authentic life celebrations. There are infinite ways to honour a life. At Picaluna, we give you the freedom, guidance and time you need to explore the different ways you can pay tribute to someone you’ve lost.A funeral doesn’t have to follow a formula. We work with families to create meaningful farewells of all shapes and sizes on beaches, in gardens, in homes and other special locations.

Lonergan & Raven Funerals is Victoria's oldest independent family-owned funeral director. We believe passionately that everyone should plan ahead, for every part of end of life care.Our simple booklet 'Have You Planned Ahead?' helps you plan the legal, funeral, and health care options YOU want.At Raven’s we work with Death Doulas, home care professionals, and Environmental product suppliers to assist families like yours with secular, chapel or in-home vigils, services and ceremonies.

Honouring And Celebrating Life.The Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT) is responsible for the care and long term maintenance of eight distinctive cemetery locations, and cares for the needs of approximately 12,000 families each year.SMCT is a leader within the cemetery industry and enjoys close working relationships with funeral directors, other industry partners and local communities. These relationships ensure that we are well positioned to continually meet the needs of the diverse communities that we serve.

Bronze Exhibitors

The idea for Life & Beyond originated when I was trying to picture what would happen if I died and my young kids were left to deal with the consequences. Many will be in the same position as me. Thus, Life & Beyond became an idea that I thought needed attention and ultimately a thought turned into a book.

Airloom is making the process of preparing for death easier and more approachable. It is an online platform to organise and collate your important details and make them accessible to family and friends. There’s no manual for life and death. Because both are deeply personal. But what if there was a space that felt safe enough to guide you through your thinking?

Conversations in families to celebrate a loved one’s life and achievements, and share their plans for their future, are immensely important. YourLifeTalks.com have designed 2 sets of Conversation Starter Cards, called ‘Your Life Story’ and ‘Your Life Wishes’ to help families break the ice and start these sometimes challenging conversations.

Prestige Inhome Care understands the importance and challenges of fulfilling a loved one’s wish to live out their days in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by the people and possessions they love. Our palliative care expertise delivers flexible, tailored support for the whole family - easing your difficult time.

Created by Dr. Pia Interlandi, Garments for the Grave are sensitively designed, biodegradable and customizable clothes that will carry you from this world into the next. The fashioning of these garments prepares you for death in a way that is natural, creative and beautiful.

Julia's Celebrant Agency is known for the beautiful funerals and memorials our Celebrants perform. Each of our Celebrants are hand-picked for their warmth, sincerity and professionalism giving you the utmost confidence that the service will be delivered beautifully and respectfully.

Being Connected an organisation providing information, knowledge, training and skills through the dying2know series of talks and workshops empowering individuals on their journey to expand personally and spiritually.

Joined by Carmen Barnsley (Death Doula). Your end of life journey is unique. Carmen’s nursing background can guide and assist you through this stage.

Kinship Ritual offers end of life services for individuals and families, at home and in the community. Boutique specialists in this field, we can help develop a plan for self, family and network when death is anticipated, and broker the right services. Our tailored funerals and memorials are warm, memorable events curated with the family.

Sally Cant Funeral Agency was launched to ensure families have the opportunity to engage independent funeral celebrants and planners to work directly with them to enhance the experience of organising, designing and delivering authentic funerals that meets your needs.